Red Shed Vintage

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Monday, October 5, 2015

It's been almost a year since I posted anything here on my blog, wow @ how time flies! I've been enjoying spending time with family this year, with 4 separate family reunion events in as many months. Lately my social media sharing has mostly been via Instagram & Facebook ~ but many of those pics have been food related as we've been experimenting with vegetarian/organic/healthy eating this year. With the arrival of Fall, I'm feeling crafty once again... Here's a recent craft project I created on a whim for a couple's anniversary gift. Since the traditional 3rd anniversary gift is leather and they travel a lot, I found some nifty faux leather journals on Amazon and decided to add personalized 'luggage tags' ~ made from an upcycled leather wallet!
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Through the years, my husband has accumulated a drawer full of Christmas gift men's wallets. (Being a man, he rarely changes wallets so he's got about 3 lifetimes of wallets saved up!) Using craft scissors, I cut the sections where photo ID's slide into and printed some catchy personalized tags ~ gluing the 'luggage tags' onto the 1st page in the journal.

(The twig pencils came from TJ Maxx.)

With the leftover leather, I cut a heart shape & glued that to a gift card I made from my stash of DIY wedding invitations.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

It's been quite some time since I've posted here on my blog ~ seems we've all become spoiled by the instant gratification of social media pictures without words, myself included! I've mostly been posting those instant pics on Facebook ~ hope you'll "like" my page there if you haven't already: https://www.facebook.com/pages/redshedvintagecom/231947456841595For those who aren't on Facebook, here's a recent upcycle project which I shared there: Vintage wooden salad bowl sets make great holiday gift baskets, and there's no shortage of them at yard sales and thrift shops.Here's a vintage salad bowl set which I recently cleaned, painted, sanded, and stained ~ ready to use as individual holiday gift baskets. I use them to hold gifts of various themes, such as guest soaps & rolled wash cloths, kitchen spices & spoons, or hot cocoa & tea packets with candies, etc. I use cellophane gift basket bags from Dollar Tree & tie with jute twine for fast and easy gifts.

Did you know you can remove grease & grime from vintage wooden wares with baking soda? I mix baking soda & warm tap water to form a thick paste & rub it over greasy wood surfaces, allowing it to dry. After rubbing the paste off with a dish towel dipped in hot water, I put them in a sunny spot to dry.

For this particular set, I painted the outsides only ~ using various colors of latex flat interior paint, sanded the edges for an aged look, then rubbed oil-based wood stain with sealer over the entire surface including the natural wood interiors.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

I love using chalkboard paint to cover 1980's country motifs for a simpler look! Not only does it cut down on the visual clutter, it also creates an ever-changeable message board. The flat black color goes with anything ~ even if the chalkboard is left blank it'll look good. I picked this little kitchen shelf up at a thrift store. Using a small screwdriver, I lifted the plastic sign out from the center and sanded off most of the engraved country motif. After washing & drying it, I sprayed 2 light coats of Rustoleum Chalkboard Paint onto the surface & set it aside to dry.I painted the shelf using 1 red coat of Plaid's new DecoArt Chalky Finish Paint (Romance) which has great adhesion coverage! Since it dries so quickly, I was able to sand/distress the same day, just around the edges to add an aged look. After dusting the sanded edges with a clean paint brush, I rubbed an even coat of oil-based Walnut furniture stain over the surface & allowed a couple of days drying time. Using wood glue, I reattached the plastic chalkboard in it's spot ~ and now have a cute garden room shelf with drawers to hold my seeds.

Friday, May 16, 2014

After several years of painting/distressing/antiquing vintage finds for others, it's nice to have some time to recycle some junque finds for myself lately! This week I scored this cute little sewing notions apothecary at a local thrift shop.

After removing the notions & motifs adorning the drawers with fine grit sandpaper, I applied a thin even basecoat of Vintage color Americana Décor Chalky Finish paint (available at Home Depot and Michael's).

Then I mixed equal parts Cobalt & Admiral Blue acrylic craft paint (.50 cents per bottle, Walmart) for a second coat, followed by a final dry-brush coat of Admiral to darken the color up a bit.

The next day, I used fine grit sandpaper to distress & age just around the edges, followed by wiping a light even coat of oil-based wood stain (Walnut) over the painted surface with a dry cotton rag, allowing a couple of days drying time.

I'm going to use the updated little cabinet to stash the patriotic & military odds & ends I've picked up through the years. Have a great week! ~Donna at Red Shed Vintage

Friday, March 21, 2014

* This trash to treasure project of mine was featured in the Winter 2012 edition of A Primitive Place Magazine! *

~ Piercingly Simple Chandelier ~ Instead of replacing our 1970’s builder grade dining room chandelier in our previous home, I decided to give it an upgrade with a piercingly simple punched tin Paul Revere lantern style makeover. The outdated Lucite plastic panels were easily removed by bending back the lamp frame prongs. I happened to have some old aluminum kick panels from screen doors handy to replace the plastic covers, but thin sheet panels of various metals are available at most home improvement stores. I also gathered hammers, nails of various sizes, screwdrivers and awls to use as metal punch tools; and used an antique pie safe as a drawing model for my lamp template. Wearing protective eye goggles & gloves, I used one of the plastic panels as a tracing template & cut the aluminum panels with heavy duty scissors. I taped the paper template to the back of each panel and placed them on a wooden board, using a hammer, screwdriver, and nails to create the tin punch designs. Gently bending the panels back into shape after removing the tape and template, I secured the pierced metal panels with the lamp frame prongs. Here's a little homemade youtube video that I made, for those who learn from seeing instead of reading! ~ Click here to view video ~

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Make your own shaped wax tarts! Experiment with various scented wax squares which are made to melt in a tart burner (Walmart has some great scented squares for just $2.00-$3.00 per pack) a tart burner of your choice, and silicone baking pans or ice cube trays with assorted whimsical shapes, candy molds, etc. Never leave warm wax unattended or in the reach of children, as directed on candle & wax package safety warnings, and be sure to protect your hands with potholders!

Monday, February 3, 2014

This makeover of mine was featured in the Spring 2012 issue of A Primitive Place Magazine!

Sometimes the package is better than the gift, as was the case with these discarded clear plastic treat containers shaped like chocolate bunnies. These looked so much like antique chocolate molds, I decided to hang on to them and go with the faux. Faux Pewter, that is.

Using inexpensive flat black spray paint, I covered the exterior of these clear plastic candy holders. When dry, I added two coats of Dark Patina by DecoArt Dazzling Metallics (available at Michael’s Arts and Crafts) and allowed drying time. To add a darker patina look, I brushed on some Old English Scratch Cover, wiped the excess with a rag, and sealed with a liberal coat of clear acrylic gloss sealer spray. This same process also works great on discarded plastic egg containers, resulting in a new and improved way to recycle plastics and make holiday decorations on the cheap.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Apothecary cabinets provide lots of little drawers for stashing stuff, but here's another way to utilize the space behind a 'cabinet' ~ go faux! Woodcrafters and unfinished wooden furniture stores often carry faux-front appliance covers of various sizes ~ made to look like an apothecary cabinet in the front but open from the back ~ for placing over toaster ovens or other small countertop appliances.I picked a used one up @ a thrift shop, and decided to give it a more primitive finish.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Serving up salads with flair created a need for artful vessels back in the 1960's ~ 80's. Salad bowl sets in a variety of shapes and themes became a staple in kitchen serving ware, including wooden bowls in the shape of different fruits to coincide with salad ingredients and/or pu-pu platter spreads. Apples, pears, pineapples, even acorns were popular salad serving themes.

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About Me

Thanks for stopping by!
I've always had a great appreciation of all things vintage and handcrafted, and enjoy hunting for vintage decor & primitive needfuls.
In the past, I've sold on Ebay & Etsy as redshedvintage ~ check out my 100% feedback! ~
http://www.etsy.com/people/redshedvintage or at:
http://myworld.ebay.com/redshedvintage/
I also wrote the Trash to Treasure column for A Primitive Place Magazine (2011 ~ 2013) featuring some of my makeovers and tutorials.